Poems (Odom)/A Broken Hope

DISAPPOINTED.

Just one more kiss, my darling,
The dearest and the last—
The sacred sacramental seal
Upon our precious past.

I clasp you in my arms to-night,
My tears drop on your head,
My kisses fall upon your brow,
As mothers kiss their dead.

To-morrow our two lives shall be
For evermore apart,
And silence settle like a pall
Upon my lips and heart.

My way and yours divide to-night,
Your sweet lips tell me so—
And yet your eyes are full of tears—
My darling, must I go?

I must! well, then, good-night, love;
I cannot say good-bye,
Nor promise to forget you—
I shall not even try.

I love you with a man's deep love,
That time can never dim.
While yours was but a passing thought,
A transient girlish whim.

I know you did not mean it, dear,
Nor think to give me pain,
But life for me can never be
The same bright thing again.